by Lucas Flint
“There,” said Eli, removing his hands from Kevin’s shoulder. “How … how does it feel?”
Kevin stood up and put his hands on his chest. “It feels … amazing. I mean, I normally feel great, but this is beyond anything I’ve ever felt before.”
“Good … good to hear,” said Eli. “But be careful. That much power can overwhelm … overwhelm you.”
Kevin nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t let this overwhelm me. I’ll use it to overwhelm the Starborn instead.”
With that, Kevin shot into the air, flying as fast as lightning itself. He immediately spotted the six Starborn attacking White; White was doing a good job dodging their attacks, but he was also clearly slowing down, no doubt getting exhausted and tired from all of the fighting he had done over the last couple of days. It wouldn’t be long before one of the Starborn got a good hit on him, which was why Kevin intended to make sure that they didn’t.
With a roar, Kevin punched the back of the nearest Starborn. The blow sent the Starborn flying up toward the ceiling. The Starborn crashed into the ceiling of the chamber hard enough to cause chunks of the ceiling to fall down. The Starborn in question looked stunned, the redness in its eyes fading for a brief moment as Mann’s control over it faded; however, less than a second later, the redness returned and the Starborn slowly began pulling itself out of the crater in the ceiling.
But Kevin was not paying attention to that Starborn anymore. Instead, he was looking at his own hand in amazement, because that was the very first time he had actually managed to harm any of the Starborn. Truly, Eli had increased his power exponentially, which just made him want to fight some more.
That was when Kevin realized that he was now surrounded on all sides by the remaining Starborn. The five Starborn had surrounded him without him noticing. They all raised their hands at him and fired more energy blasts, but Kevin flew upwards, avoiding the blasts, which all struck each other in the middle of the circle and created a minor explosion that was nonetheless deafeningly loud in the chamber.
Kevin, however, did not flee. Instead, he turned around and shot toward the Starborn again. He grabbed one of the Starborn and threw it over his shoulder at its friends, knocking two of them out of the air. The other three Starborn rushed toward him, but Kevin fired twin lightning bolts at them. The lightning bolts were much stronger than any of his previous ones; in fact, they were blindly bright and roared like flames.
Two of the three remaining Starborn flew out of the way, but the third—who must have been slower than the others—took the lightning bolts head on and was sent careening off to the side.
This power is amazing, Kevin thought, looking down at his hands, which were still glowing with red energy. I feel like I can do anything.
But Kevin was interrupted when he once again found himself surrounded by the Starborn, albeit it was just two of them now. Still, Kevin knew it wouldn’t be long before the rest of them recovered, which meant that he would need to get out of here quickly before they did.
Instead of shooting him with energy blasts, however, the Starborn unleashed bands of strange green energy which ensnared Kevin like a snake. Startled by this unexpected move, Kevin nonetheless struggled to break free, but despite using the full extent of his super strength, the bands would not snap. If anything, they seemed to get tighter the more he fought, making it harder and harder for him to breathe or move.
Then the Starborn started pulling from both ends. Kevin gasped as the bands tightened harder than ever. He realized they were trying to cut him in half with their energy bands. How much longer that would take, he didn’t know, but he did know that he likely had only a few seconds before they tore him in half. Yet despite his great strength, he was unable to free himself and he couldn’t use his lightning powers to free himself, either.
Without warning, a huge blast of blue electricity struck one of the Starborn, causing it to let go of its band. The band dematerialized from around Kevin, who immediately yanked himself out of the remaining band and fired a blast at the other Starborn. His lightning blast struck the Starborn, sending it flying backwards through the air.
Panting, Kevin looked over to see who had saved him and saw White flying toward him.
“Brother!” White shouted, coming to a stop before Kevin. “You okay? Hurt?”
“I’m fine, White,” said Kevin, waving off White’s concern. “But thanks for the save, man. I thought I was a goner there.”
“No problem,” said White, giving Kevin the thumbs up. He frowned. “You look … different.”
“Got a power boost from Eli,” Kevin replied. “It’s really great. If Eli survives this, you should ask him to give you one as—”
Kevin was interrupted by the sound of falling rock above him. He looked up just in time to see a large chunk of the ceiling hurtling toward him and White, forcing the two of them to separate to allow the ceiling chunk to fall harmlessly past them. Kevin came to a stop and looked up at the ceiling again just in time to see the Starborn who he had punched into the ceiling coming toward him.
He was about to blast it, but then he noticed that the other Starborn were surrounding him again. Not just him, but White as well, forcing the two brothers to draw closer together as the six Starborn began to circle them like sharks in the water, their red eyes blurring oddly as they moved.
“How we beat them?” said White, panting slightly as he and Kevin rotated in order to keep an eye on the circling Starborn. “Too strong. Much too strong.”
Kevin glanced down at the platform to check on Stinger’s progress. To his surprise, Stinger was not alone; he and Shell were now fighting Volto and Bauta, who were desperately trying to keep the two Young Neos from reaching Mann. As for Talon, she was about halfway up the steps to the main platform now, but her progress was stalled thanks to Pantalone, who had apparently flown down the steps to fight her.
“Shell?” said Kevin in surprise. “Where did he come from?”
“Shell is here?” said White, looking over his shoulder at Kevin. “What about Blizzard and Treehugger?”
“Don’t see them,” said Kevin. “Shell must have come through the portal, but it doesn’t matter. Looks like the Venetians are still protecting their master.”
“Only matter of time before Starborn kill us,” White said, turning his attention back to the silent, circling Starborn. “Don’t know how much longer can hold out.”
“I know,” said Kevin. “If we can stop Mann, we can free the Starborn, but … we can’t reach him at the moment, and if we try to go after him, the Starborn will stop us.”
“I think we will die,” said White. “Not trying to be gloom, but don’t think we’re going to get out of this one alive, brother.”
White had a point. Even with his power boost, Kevin was still not a match for all six Starborn. The surviving Venetians were still trying their hardest to keep his teammates from reaching Mann and succeeding quite well so far. Even with Shell’s unexpected arrival, the odds were still against them. Perhaps if Blizzard and Treehugger were here, their odds would be better, but as it was, Kevin could not see any way out of this.
Wait, Kevin thought. It seems like when we hurt the Starborn, it temporarily breaks their mental connection with Mann. But White can’t really harm them; on the other hand, I am strong enough to hurt the Starborn. Yet I would need an attack capable of hitting all six of them at once to make sure none of them survive. What kind of attack could do … that …
Kevin suddenly looked at White. “White, when I say so, I want you to head to the floor. Try to find cover.”
“Cover?” White repeated. “Brother, what are you planning to—”
“Just do it, okay?” said Kevin. “Just trust me.”
White looked a little doubtful, but thankfully, he didn’t argue further. He just nodded, which was all the confirmation Kevin needed to do what he needed to do next.
Kevin focused on the electricity flowing through his body. Rather than focusing it inside a fist,
however, Kevin focused on having the energy charge through his whole body. His body began glowing brighter than ever, his hands shaking with repressed power, but Kevin didn’t stop yet. Red light emanated from his entire body, making White and the Starborn look red, but thankfully the Starborn didn’t seem to know what he was about to do. Lightning crackled and sparked along his form and his body began to shake.
“White, get down now!” Kevin shouted.
White, thankfully, obeyed without question. He zoomed straight down to the floor of the chamber and Kevin—no longer capable of holding back all of his power—screamed and released all of his energy at once.
Kevin had done this move only once before, back when he first fought Pantalone and Arlecchino on the coast of New York. Back then, he had used it to kill an entire murder of crows that had, incidentally, been trying to murder him at the same time. The attack had taken out all of the crows at once, but had left Kevin somewhat tired and drained afterward. It had been a powerful blast, one of the strongest moves Kevin knew.
But it was nothing compared to this blast, which drew upon the boosted power he received from Eli. A barrier of lightning exploded from his body in every direction. In the enclosed chamber, the thunder was deafening, overwhelming every other sound in the vicinity, even Kevin’s own voice, despite how loudly he screamed. All Kevin could see was red lights flashing everywhere and thunder roaring in his ears. His body was even vibrated by the loud blast, to the point where he thought he was about to fall apart. The air tasted like ozone and lightning, and a strong stench of burned stone filled his nostrils.
For a moment, Kevin thought that he had died, but when the last of his power left his body, Kevin realized he was still alive. The reason everything was so dark was because the lights in the ceiling had been destroyed by his attack. The only light now came from the open portal within the gateway, which afforded him enough light to see the results of his actions.
The entire chamber was smoking, the temperature much higher than it had been mere seconds ago. Chunks of the floor had been torn out or blasted to bits by the lightning bolts, while blackened electrical wires hung from the ceiling like the tentacles of an octopus. Much of the ceiling was totally blackened or even outright destroyed in several places. Even the gateway, which was still active, was blackened around the top and smoking slightly.
Lying on the floor directly underneath him were the six Starborn. Their robes were burned away in several places, revealing curious reptilian-like skin underneath, though their hoods still obscured their features. Kevin thought they were actually dead at first, especially with the smoke rising from their corpses, but then he noticed that their chests were still rising and falling and realized they were just unconscious, although probably in a lot of pain. He was amazed that even that attack hadn’t torn their skin; he wondered what these guys were made out of.
Shaking his head, Kevin looked around to see how everyone else was doing. He realized that such a powerful blast would have affected his friends, too, and wanted to make sure they were all okay.
Stinger and Shell were still on the platform, covered by one of Shell’s barriers. Talon and White—who were on the steps of the platform, White having apparently flown over there, perhaps to flee the explosion—were also protected by a red barrier, as was Eli. That surprised Kevin; he hadn’t realized just how good Shell had gotten at using his powers.
But the Venetians were not so lucky. Pantalone appeared to have taken the brunt of the attack, being the closest; at least, Kevin thought that the smoking corpse lying on the steps of the platform was Pantalone. It had wings, anyway, albeit cooked to the point where all of the feathers had been burned off.
Volto and Bauta, by contrast, appeared to still be alive, but they were lying on the ground, though it looked like they had made an attempt to run away when Kevin unleashed his attack. Both were burned to a crisp, especially their backs, which made Kevin wonder how they had managed to survive at all. He decided that they just got lucky.
And the woman, Della, was also down, though he couldn’t tell if she was dead or not. She was lying mostly outside the light of the gateway, but it seemed like she had been hit at least as hard as Volto and Bauta. Given her healing powers, she was probably still alive, though if she wasn’t currently in an intense amount of pain, Kevin would eat his Teleportation Buckle.
As for Mann, he was still standing in the same spot as always. While the rest of the platform around him was completely burned to a crisp, the tiny spot upon which he stood was not. The answer to that mystery became obvious: Mann was holding out the Five Fingers, which, as far as Kevin could tell, had somehow managed to protect Mann from the worst of the explosion. How that worked, Kevin did not know, but given how powerful Starborn artifacts were, he probably shouldn’t have been surprised to see Mann still standing, although he was disappointed because he had secretly hoped that his explosion had killed Mann in the process.
Mann lowered the Five Fingers slowly and looked around the chamber. His eyes darted from Della to Volto and Bauta and finally down to the fried corpse of Pantalone on the steps. His eyes also landed on the Starborn briefly, which seemed to shake him far more than Pantalone’s corpse had.
“No,” said Mann. His voice was softer than usual, but with a hint of insanity behind it. “It cannot be … the Starborn are …”
“Defeated,” said Kevin. He was tired and exhausted, but he still looked down at Mann with sheer disgust. “And your Venetians are all either dead or too wounded to keep fighting. Game over, Mann. We won. You lost.”
Mann’s left eye twitched. His hands shook. He looked like he was either going to scream and shout or perhaps simply collapse on the spot. He was sweating more than ever now, like he stood in the middle of an oven.
“No …” Mann muttered in a voice that was quite clearly not sane. “No … decades of work … my life’s work … ruined in seconds … by a stupid kid and his even stupider friends …”
Below, Shell had dropped the shields around the other Young Neos now that the fight was over. Stinger and Shell stood up, while Talon and White slowly rose from their spot on the steps. Kevin wished that Blizzard and Treehugger could be here right now, but he was just glad to see that everyone was still alive.
“Teenagers,” Mann muttered rapidly, almost too fast for Kevin to follow. “I was beaten by a bunch of teenagers. Kids who aren’t even in college yet. Kids who wouldn’t know the worth of a dollar if it slapped them in the face.”
Stinger—who was sniffling rather loudly for some reason—slowly walked over to Mann, holding up his stingers. “Like Bolt said, it’s over, Mann. I’m going to paralyze you now so we can take you to Ultimate Max easier. I wouldn’t resist if I were you; you might hurt yourself.”
Mann suddenly looked at Stinger with wild, crazed eyes. “No. I will not die in prison like some common crook. I am John Mann, founder and CEO of Mann Corporation. I am destined to save the world, destined to rule all of humanity as its god.”
“Dude, you lost,” said Stinger. “I know losing isn’t fun, but come on. You’re acting like a spoiled brat who didn’t get what he wanted. It would just be easier for everyone if you—”
Without warning, Mann rushed toward Stinger. He shoved Stinger aside, who fell to the ground with a surprised shout. Despite his age, Mann was fast and his destination was obvious: The portal. He was clearly attempting to escape through the portal, perhaps to go to some other universe to plot his revenge. Kevin would have fired a lightning bolt at him, but he had used up so much power with that last attack that he couldn’t even make a few sparks. Kevin flew toward Mann, but he knew that he was too far away to catch him.
Right before Mann passed through the portal, a bunch of strange, small sharp objects suddenly shot through it. The objects—which looked almost like leaves to Kevin—slashed through Mann’s face and arms, leaving bloody spots on his now quite tattered suit. Mann staggered backwards, but miraculously remained standing, despite the bloody cuts alon
g his body. He leaned on his cane weakly and stared at the portal in shock.
“Who … who did that?” said Mann, his voice weaker than ever.
As if in response, three figures stepped out of the portal. The first—a black man in futuristic space armor, carrying a weird gun-like weapon in his hands—Kevin did not recognize, but he recognized the other two with no problem: It was Blizzard and Treehugger. The two of them looked tired, but uninjured.
“What?” said Mann, staring at Blizzard, Treehugger, and the armored man dumbly. “More teens? How …”
“Looks like we were just in the nick of time,” said Blizzard. “Right, Treehugger?”
“Right,” said Treehugger, nodding. “All thanks to Space here, who managed to track Shell’s watch with the Adventure’s computers.”
“No big deal,” said the armored man, who was apparently named Space. “Your Earth technology is pretty easy to track when you know what you’re doing.”
Kevin’s face burst into a huge smile, but then he looked back down at Mann again and his scowl returned. “All right, Mann, now you’re really screwed. The entire team is here, plus an ally. You have no way to beat us and no way to escape. It. Is. Over.”
“No,” said Mann, without looking at Kevin. “It is never over. So long as I can draw one more breath, my plans will never end. I will flee. I will start again.”
Mann turned around and ran toward the steps. This time, Shell summoned a red barrier before Mann in an attempt to stop him, but Mann punched it with the Five Fingers and smashed through the barrier like glass. Again, Mann was fast, despite his new wounds. He even managed to reach the steps, all the while saying, “I will start again. I will start again. I will—”
